Avon time share earns initial OK

Special to the Daily
Wyndham Vacation Resorts has proposed a 58-unit time share project on Avon's "Lot 61," a relatively small parcel between the Seasons building and Avon Center. The Avon Town Council Tuesday gave first-reading approval to a pair of ordinances that would approve the project.

Related Media

AVON, Colorado - A new time-share project in Avon is one step closer to groundbreaking.

The Avon Town Council Tuesday unanimously gave first-reading approval to a pair of ordinances that will allow Wyndham Vacation Resorts to build a 58-unit project on the town's "Lot 61," a small parcel adjacent to the town's primary bus stop.

There have been several proposals over the years for the land, which is next door to the Seasons building and Avon Center, none of which ever made it as far as groundbreaking. That will change if the Avon Town Council grants final approval to the project at its Feb.. 26 meeting.

If that happens, plans call for groundbreaking in April, with completion expected by the time the 2015 World Alpine Ski Championships come to the Vail Valley.

The project has had a fairly smooth ride through the town's approval process since July of last year. Town manager Virginia Egger said part of that is because town planners and developers set a schedule for needed paperwork - from applications to design drawings - and both sides kept to that timetable.

The result Tuesday was a lengthy, but fairly uncontroversial, first hearing on the ordinances. The council attached just a half-dozen conditions to the proposal, the most significant of which is a requirement to move the building's trash collection site off Lettuce Shed Lane, the pathway between the Seasons and the Wyndham property. In return, the town will assume responsibility for maintenance and landscaping along the path.

Talking to the council, Ted Hunter of Wyndham said the project is intended to bring "new life and new guests" to that part of Avon, something that could eventually create demand for some of the vacant retail space in the Seasons and surrounding buildings.

Hunter said Wyndham expects the Avon project to be more than 85 percent occupied nearly all the time. If that's the case, it could provide a spark to that part of town.

It's also a project that Wyndham expects to aim at its best customers. Hunter said the company will build all 58 of the units to its "presidential" level, with upgraded furnishings and fittings.

"That's something noteworthy," Egger said. It's also noteworthy that the big project completed in Avon was the nearby - and vastly larger - Westin hotel. That's the sort of project town officials want, she said.

While the proposal hasn't hit any major roadblocks, Egger said there's still work to do on the final version of the ordinances needed for approval. There's also still time for the public to comment. Information about the proposal is at www.avon.org.